Save Article

Heading Into the Fourth Quarter,
Investors Look Warily to Washington

By

Tom Lauricella

Updated Oct. 1, 2008 11:59 p.m. ET

The stock market heads into the final quarter of the year solidly in bear-market territory and roiled by uncertainty.

Even before the House of Representatives voted down the financial-markets rescue plan Monday and stocks collapsed in a frenzy of selling, there were few expectations of a quick rebound. Yet hopes remain that if a credible solution emerges to stabilize the financial system, conditions would be in place for stocks to begin a slow recovery.